Aussie soft drink company StrangeLove bought by Asahi Beverages

Two Aussie mates who quit their corporate jobs to make organic products have just had their business idea snapped up by a global alcohol giant.

An Australian soft drink company has been bought out by Japanese alcohol giant Asahi Beverages Group.

On Tuesday morning, Asahi announced it had acquired StrangeLove, a little known soft drink creator based in the northern NSW town of Byron Bay.

StrangeLove sells “adult soda”, using organic products to create popular fizzy drinks.

With 20,000 Instagram followers and selling popular products such as Tonic No. 8, Lo-Cal Yuzu and Double Ginger, StrangeLove has more than doubled in volume and revenue since Covid-19 hit two years ago.

Aussie mates James Bruce and Stafford Fox moved to Byron in 2009 after quitting their corporate jobs and founded the business in 2013 during an explosion of interest in organic food and drinks.

Asahi chief executive Robert Iervasi said it was a prudent business decision to buy StrangeLove as healthy soft drinks have boomed in Australia while other markets have languished amid the economic downturn.

The Australian soft drink market generates $2.8 billion a year, according to Asahi, and non-alcoholic sweet drinks are up 40 per cent over the last three years.

News.com.au asked for the cost of the merger but this was not disclosed by time of publication.

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StrangeLove sells adult soda with great success.

Speaking to Amazon in 2020, the Byron Bay business owners admitted that what was meant to be a gap year in NSW’s far north to let off some steam turned into a business venture that hasn’t stopped more than a decade later.

“We were 26 and both in jobs we didn’t like,” Mr Bruce told the website. “So we moved to work in hospitality for a year and figure out what we wanted to do.”

Both men were interested in organic food and rolled out their first ever soft drink, a ginger beer, using Mr Bruce’s background in marketing to sell products.

They happened to sell one of their products to celebrity chef Kylie Kwong at a local market stall in 2013.

Loving the product, Ms Kwong started to stock the drinks in her restaurant, putting them on the map. Soon they were in restaurants and bars across Sydney and Melbourne.

In a statement on Tuesday of the acquisition, Mr Bruce said: “It has been an incredible nine years on our own.

“However, this deal represents an amazing opportunity to speed up StrangeLove’s mission to revolutionise the adult soft drink market with more imaginative and high-quality beverages.”

StrangeLove founders with Asahi Beverages CEO.

Asahi CEO Mr Iervasi said of the merger: “It is clear Australians want more sophisticated and lower-sugar soft drinks, which has fuelled demand for StrangeLove’s amazing products in recent years.

“Asahi Beverages is committed to expanding our leading multi-beverage alcohol and non-alcohol portfolio in Oceania as we continue to invest significantly in jobs, new products and manufacturing.”

Indeed, Asahi has kept a weather eye on the Australian market for its business prospects.

In 2019, the alcohol heavyweight snapped up Carlton & United Breweries (CUB) for an eye-watering $16 billion.

CUB produces popular Aussie beer brands including Victoria Bitter, Carlton Draught and Crown Lager.

Asahi also bought Australasian coffee business Allpress last year, in another sign of them moving into the non-alcoholic sector.